Zizek Loves JARS

Some may take this as a sure sign of the decadence of a periodical, but I just wanted to bring this item to the attention of my readers. The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies is mentioned in an "Intellectual Affairs" essay by Scott McLemee for Inside Higher Ed: "Among the Randroids" (February 10, 2005). McLemee writes of the controversial Continental philosopher Slavoj Zizek (who has been featured in the pages of JARS):

Whole subdivisions of the humanities could run on the energy generated by Zizek's incessant effort to bring Lacanian psychoanalytic categories to bear on the reading of German Idealist philosophy—all in the interest of revitalizing Marxist politics, albeit at a very high level of abstraction. Few Objectivists could read him without trembling in rage.

At a conference about two years ago, Zizek told me that he had no use for most American academic journals. There was only one that he really liked, he said.

Oh really? And what was that?

"It is The Journal of Ayn Rand Studies," he said. "I love it. I read every issue." He may have been joking, yet he also appeared serious. The two do sometimes go together.

You can participate in a dialogue on McLemee's article; scroll down here to "Add a Comment." I've also posted a note about this at L&P, "Inside Higher Ed: Zizek Loves JARS," where you may add a comment as well. (L&P comments are here.)